Dark chocolate and Vanilla
by Ariahdawn92
Summary: A story about the light and dark sides of the lives of Tohru Honda and Kyou Sohma. With Kyou and a dash of humor,what more could a Fruits Basket fan want? No more details,It's a suprise. It's my first story so I would love any reviews. Ratedteen4language.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The wonderful story and characters of _Fruits Basket _are accredited to Natsuki Takaya to whom we are grateful we can write stories such as this because we were able to enjoy her story . None of the ownership is mine.**

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"NO"

"Its not like 'I' want 'you' to come,stupid cat"

"Do you think I'm three or something, having a picnic at a play ground?! 'Oh, I'll race you to the monkey bars. Oh look! Look how high I can swing!' Shit! Are you serious? It's a stupid idea"

"Well it's Ms. Honda's idea," Yuki folded his arms and stared back with a cocky expression in his sapphire eyes.

The fiery-eyed redhead frowned back at him then pushed his long fingers through his tangerine bangs.

"I've got practice today. I'm not going".

Thus the gentle and unusually non-combative conversation of Yuki and Kyou Sohma ended as Tohru Honda skipped into the dining room.

"Yuki-san? Kyou-kun? Both of you alright?", a glint of worried sincerity shimmered across her bright and happy face. Her brunette hair flowed off the top of her shoulders in waves. She had just walked down stairs from her room, still in her pink floral nightgown. Yuki was wearing a long Japanese style shirt and pants, while Kyou was in a pair of blue shorts and a white tank top that he usually slept in.

"Yes. And how are you this morning?" Yuki looked at her with warm eyes. She was always so concerned when he quarreled with that hot-tempered idiot.

"Wonderful, thank you! Kyou, your alright too?" She smiled at Kyou, who was still straight faced. He was sitting at the table with his head propped up in his hands staring out into the wilderness of the Sohma family's property. His eyes shot a quick glance back at Tohru.

"I'm fine." Kyou shrugged his shoulders as he turned back to the window. Tohru didn't think he sounded too fine. Then a brilliant idea came to her.

"I'll make you both something extra special for breakfast!" She smiled excitedly as she pranced out the door, leaving the two boys looking wide-eyed at her exuberance.

As soon as she walked into the kitchen, she realized that her brilliant idea lacked some brilliancy. She had already made all the breakfast meals she knew of. This was going to be a problem, but she couldn't give up so quickly, after all Kyou and Yuki and Shagure were always so kind to her. Letting her stay in their home, walking her home from work late, she really did feel like a princess when she was around them.

So, how could she fail at making the best breakfast for the best people in her life, she thought. She wouldn't give up, not this Tohru Honda. Suddenly, her mind remembered the cookbooks she had bought a few weeks ago. Scanning through the book, she looked from recipe to recipe.

"Crepes, simplicity and elegance, eat like one is _dan la Paris_" Tohru read the page out loud. Paris sounded so wonderful and romantic. She'd try to make that.

Meanwhile, on the roof, lay Kyou, who was staring at a group of clouds while he reflected on his flaws, as he often did. The first cloud looked like a cat. He grimaced at it as it looked back at him. He hated being a cat and cats also reminded him of all the cat groupies that always liked to gather around him. If he didn't watch out those darn cats would probably smother him in his sleep. The veins in his forehead protruded as he told himself **_Focus on the clouds and you won't break anything. Just focus on the clouds. _**This was a necessary precaution mostly because the only thing to break was the roof and he knew that caused trouble the last time. The next cloud looked like nothing to him. Kyou tried to stretch his imagination into thinking it was an obese starfish on a broomstick but even in his tired, dazed state he couldn't believe that. The swirls of the 'Wicca practicing echinoderm who needed to try out nutrisystem' sucked him in to its enchanting spell as his eyes fell shut.

**_Where the hell am I? _**Kyou was laying on a cement floor in a dark room. A cage would be a better description of it, for it was only as large as a closet. It was vacant accept for the dust and heavy darkness that enveloped its entire space. His fiery eyes were blinded by a small ray of light seeping through four metal bars, the only window in the room. He got up, panic-stricken and disconcerted. As he stumbled to his feet a film of dust was kicked up, coating his bare arms and tee-shirt in grey. He fell back down and leaned against the cold, unsympathetic wall. His bitter fate had become a present reality; he was imprisoned.

Abruptly, the chilled room turned hot. No, it wasn't the room,Kyou realized. His arms, his arms were burning. He looked down at his forearms and chest. The dust wasn't what it appeared to be. A smouldering pain covered him like he was on fire. Like the blood in his veins was lava and he was getting coated with the ashes, he felt a blaze was sweeping through him, from his wrists to his back. With out warning, all his eyes could see was a veil of flames and smoke. **_Shit._**He coughed. _**Somebody! Somebody help me! The rooms on fire!**_The choking smoke whirled about him taunting him to fight for his life, and through the smoke a gray field appeared, out of nowhere. A funeral procession was before him.

A pale faced Tohru was lying on the ground before a grave stone just twenty feet away. She had collapsed from the weight of grief, frail as a budding flower, and was crying with faintly heard sobs. _**Tohru?! **_She was too far away to hear him, a moving picture in a smokey frame. The room was now a furious inferno around Kyou. Yuki came and wrapped his arms around Tohru, pulling her up from the ground. Shigure looked down, shame-faced, as he turned and walked away from her.

"Yuki, why'd he have to die?!"

"Shh, everything is going to be o.k. Come on, lets go. Everyone has left and you haven't eaten since yesterday morning" Tohru nodded at Yuki's plea for her health. She looked back at the grave stone and said,

"Good bye Kyou-kun. I wish I could have had more time with you." Then the two both walked off ,Yuki's arm around Tohru, holding her up.

_**No! I'm not dead Tohru! Help me! Everything'son fire! Help! Somebody!.**_They kept walking deaf to his screams. The burning continued and his eyes were blinded by the incandescent flames that surrounded him on all sides. His heart was burning and his mind was numb with the images of Tohru weakly collapsed on the ground. _**Why can't she see me? Doesn't she know I'm locked here?**_And then his eyes squeezed shut in pain when he realized._**They didn't tell her I had to be locked up. She doesn't know about the cat's curse. They thought that telling her I'm dead was the only way for her to come to terms with me being gone. What else would Tohru understand?. She understands death far too well.**_He fell face first to the floor , his hands clenching, scratching the ground as he slowly sunk.

"Kyou!'

He flipped over on to his back, looking for the voice. _**Help me.**_

"Kyou, KYOU!!!"

He felt too weak to answer. He was dying for sure.

"Kyou, wake up!!"

He woke with a jolt and as he opened his eyes he saw Tohru kneeling over him, her liquid blue eyes luminescent with worry. He wasn't in prison after all, but on the roof under the auroral sunlight.

"Kyou, are you OK? You must of been having a nightmare or daymare I guess you could say. You shouldn't fall asleep up here, you could fall off." Tohru's frown slowly faded into an affectionate smile.

"Uh-I'm fine, Tohru. Thanks for waking me up" Kyou stuttered still shaken from his dream.

"I made Yuki crepes. He has already eaten and has went to work in his garden. The batter is ready so I can make one for you now- if your not too tired." Tohru smiled with pride at her culinary accomplishments.

"Thanks, I'll catch up to you in a second. Don't worry, I've had enough rest for the day" Kyou forced a smile as she started down the latter.

"Tohru-"

"Yes, Kyou?"

"Nothing, never mind." Suddenly, he felt a tinge of the burning in his heart again.

A few moments later he walked into the kitchen. She ran over to him and pulled him over to the stove top, her hand in his.

"See? Its almost done. You need to pick some toppings!" Tohru looked up into his eyes after he had glanced at the cooking crepe. Hopefully, he will like the toppings she had bought this morning.

"Well, what do we have?" Kyou answered back. He was in lighter spirits now.

"Look in the fridge" Tohru flipped the golden brown crepe to its other side.

Kyou grabbed the handle of the fridge hesitantly. What the hell does someone put on a crepe anyway? Upon opening it, his jaw dropped. Inside was a crate of strawberries, two cans of whip cream, peaches, blackberries, jelly, jam, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, caramel sauce, bananas, vanilla pudding, butterscotch pudding, chocolate pudding,toffee chunks, pitted cherries, maple syrup, and blueberries. None of these things had been there before. She must have done all the shopping this morning, he thought. How could she be so nice to him like this. Stupid girl, doesn't she know that he can't return her over done niceness? He wasn't a good person. He looked back at her. He had nothing to give back.

"Tohru, I don't know what to pick."

"Huh, you don't like the options?!" Oh no, how could she make the best breakfast Kyou ever had if he didn't like the toppings,"There's ice cream in the fridge too!" She was in a frenzy.

"No, Tohru. It all looks great. I just don't know what to choose from."

"I could make you something for your first crepe." Relieved, she tossed the crepe onto a cream colored plate and placed it on the counter top. She danced the polka to the fridge and grabbed a Tohru-sized armful of ingredients with lightning speed. She was giddy and excited, as she turned her back to Kyou, who was standing in the middle of the kitchen, once more in awe of Tohru's enthusiasm.

"Voila! Bon appétit", Tohru giggled as she handed a heaping plate to Kyou with a curtsy.

"Thanks. Oh-no, 'Merci, Mademoiselle,' With his eyes filled with laughter and gratitude he corrected himself. Tohru giggled once more as he took a bite out of the mountain-high crepe. It was covered by dollops of vanilla ice cream and rivers of chocolate syrup. The mountain was sprinkled with toffee and rainbow sprinkles and its summit was snow-capped with a swirl of whipped cream. Crowning the snow was a petite crimson cherry. As delicious and as it tasted and looked, he felt that he would drop dead of hyperglycemia from all the sugar before he finished. He walked with Tohru into the dining room. Then they both sat down.

"So do you like it?" she beamed with hope and anticipation.

"It's delicious. Have you had one yet?" Kyou looked towards her, his eyes finally drawn from the hypnotizing allure of the "Party Himalayas". Abruptly, he heard her stomach growl and saw a blush on her radiant skin.

"No, not yet. I will make one after I make more batter later," She had made enough for Yuki, Kyou, Shigure and herself but not quite enough for them plus Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro, who had stopped by for a visit earlier that day.

"Well, you can have some of mine. You seem hungry." Kyou wasn't going to let the idiot starve. He knew the kids had stopped by. If he had been her, he would have skipped serving Hiro. He always acted like a brat," I'll go get a spoon, you can have some of mine".

"No, It's yours Kyou"

"I'm getting a spoon" He jumped up from the table and strolled into the kitchen. **_Damn it_**, he thought, all the spoons were dirty and he hated doing dishes. What was he going to do now? He heard her stomach growl once again from the other room. He rushed back into the dining room and scooped out a morsel with his own spoon, and put it into the surprised mouth of Tohru. **_That should hold her over_.**The determined boy rushed back into the kitchen to go wash her a utensil of her own. After a short moment, he came back with a shiny silver spoon.

"Here, go ahead eat some of mine, I really don't need the extra calories anyway." Kyou tried to reassure her.

"But It's your-KYOU, you shouldn't worry about calories, your in good shape; you work out at the Dojo", Tohru exclaimed at him. Kyou felt relieved now that she was distracted from trying to refuse food. She was taking dainty bites out of the crepe dessert as if subconsciously she wanted to help in any way she could, even if it meant to help him lose weight. She was really silly sometimes, easy to tease.

"Speaking of Dojo, I need to go soon."Kyou reminiscenced, suddenly.

"Oh, will you be back soon?" Tohru remembered something else, suddenly, as well.

"Not exactly, why for?" He knew why she was asking but played dumb. He really did feel bad even if he thought the whole thing was stupid.

"I was planning on having a picnic but I understand if your busy. I know how sports are."

"Oh really?" Kyou mocked her in a friendly way. Tohru had play sports in physical education class and he had seen her lack of coordination. In fact, he didn't even have to see her play sports, her falling flat on her face was a repeated memory that etched a picture of a very klutzy Honda in his mind.

"Well, I did do some ballet" She felt meek when Kyou laughed at her.

"Ballet? That's not a sport!", he stopped as he could see Tohru sinking down further into her cushioned seat,"but it is pretty cool, i mean for you. I never knew you danced."

"YOU DANCE?!", Shigure popped his head out from behind the door frame,"You should dance for us at the picnic."

"Go away you perve!," Kyou jumped up to his feet, in furious rage, as he clenched his fists in the direction of the twisted dog.

"Shigure, I'm not good at dancing. I stopped when I was fourteen. I'd be terrible now" Tohru's face was blushing like a pale fuchsia. Shigure chuckled and left just as suddenly as he had appeared. Hurray! he thought, dancing, dancing high school girls!!!!

"Tohru, how long did you dance before that?" asked Kyou.

"Since I was five." No pride was in her face as she blankly answered.

"Then you must be o.k"

"But I'm so inflexible now, and, oh no, if I have to dance today, I won't have anything to dance in!"

"You need a tutu, or something?" Tutus and Tohru did seem to match well when he thought about it. So did frolicking in a fairy enchanted forest.

"More like tights and a leotard and maybe a tutu or-Kyou could I borrow something from you?" Immediately Kyou was flustered and astounded. What the hell did she think he had? _**A tutu? A leotard. A "My Little Pony CD?"**_ _**Now Yuki, he might have those things. That damn rats probably into that**_but he, as sure as hell, isn't.

"Kyou, could I borrow a shirt of yours? That should be loose enough to dance in." Kyou's blood pressure lowered as did his cat ears. Then he teased.

"Loose enough? You calling me fat?"

"OH NO. No No. Kyou, that is not what I meant. I'm so sorry if it came out that way, but that's not what I meant!.

"Tohr-"

"You are in great shape. Your fit and trim as could be. Lots of guys would probably like to have a body like yours and-'

"Tohru I-"

"Why are you hard on yourself. You should be happy with how you are. Be confident Kyou. I like you and-" Tohru was in her frenzy mode once again.

"Tohru, here," Kyou scooped a bite of toffee into her mouth to quiet her,"I was only kidding with you, you can borrow one of my shirts but I have to go now so...bye." With catlike reflexes he grabbed his backpack and sprang out the door.

"Bye, Kyou" Once he was gone, she wiped the sweat from her frenzy off her forehead. Why was she so gullible?  
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to be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

The answer to why she was so gullible was one Tohru sought often. She felt so embarrassed being fooled...

Just last week, Hiro and Kisa had come to visit her, as they often did. As soon as she greeted the two sweet children, Hiro handed a water filled zip-lock bag with a small fish to Tohru.

"What a pretty fish, Hiro!' He held the bag up to her face. She thought its orange color was delightfully lovely.

"Yeah, you really should go feed him. He's one of the Juunishi. His name is Fin"

"Oh hello, Fin-san. Pleased to meet you, I'm Tohru Honda. Don't worry, I'll find you some food straight away."

Tohru looked through all the cabinets but couldn't find any fish food. This wasn't a surprise to her because the Sohmas had never had any pets that she had known of. She guessed that this was probably do to the fact that any one of them would feel awkward keeping an animal version of themselves.

After walking back and forth through the house a few times, Tohru made her way to the store to buy two large containers of fish food. Just in case Fin was going to start visiting often in his animal form, she wanted to see if he preferred beta or goldfish cuisine. Upon coming back, she poured Fin into a large glass bowl and dropped a pinch of of fish flakes with him. Then she stepped back in terror. Fin wasn't moving.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh my gosh what am I going to do?! Fin?! Fin?! Somebody help!" she yelped.

In a flash, Kyou was down the stairs, the only one who heard her cries from the kitchen.

"Tohru?! Are you alright?' He stood there, red faced, hands on his knees, catching his breath because he had been practicing his daily "40-push-ups-to-beat-Yuki" moments before.

"Don't look, Kyou,"Tohru shielded her own eyes,"I think he's dead."

"Who's dead?"

"FIN!!" and with that Tohru fell to her knees and burst into tears.

"Who's fin, Tohru?" Kyou looked at the pitiful girl before him with concern, trying to grasp the meaning of this.

A quivering finger was pointed in the direction of the deceased Juunishi. Kyou walked over to the counter top and looked into the crystal bowl.

"Tohru, that's a soggy goldfish cracker floating in a bowl. Are you alright?"

"What!?" Her utter despair turned into utter vacancy of mind as her brain shutoff like a public t.v. station going out late at night, just a steady high pitched BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..... and an array of rainbow colors.

"Tohru there is no Fin Sohma. Hiro played a prank on you, didn't he? That little twerp!" Kyou's look of anger could have convinced someone that his orange hair had gotten a tinge redder.

"Um, um,um"Tohru couldn't speak. Oh, the beautiful spectrum of color. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

"Come on, let's get you to bed. It looks like you need to get some rest before you come down with a fever or something like that" His focus switched back to concern.

He half dragged the mind numbed Tohru to her room. Afterwards, he had to escort her to bed because the first time she lunged forward and missed the mattress by a foot. He cringed as he saw it happen with a "Damn-it Tohru, make it to the bed!", but to him it seemed doubtful that she noticed the pain of her impact with the floor. Embarrassment in front of him had cause her brain to go into a cocoon-like state, painless and carefree...

Abruptly, Tohru snapped out of her reflection, hoping she hadn't spent too long dwelling on things. Oh, no, It was three o'clock. Why was she so bad at time management? Couldn't she do anything right? She hated when she wasted time, especially when she had a busy day to plan for..

Just last week.._**NO! **_She wasn't going to do anymore thinking. They didn't have any food for the picnic yet and a lot was needed; however, she only had till 4:00. She ran to the fridge to grab a bottle of soy-sauce and tofu. Then, she dashed like a jackrabbit to the cupboards to grab a bag of rice. The door bell rang and she jumped, startled from her determined focus.

" Wha!?...Coming!" Her voice chimed as she rushed to the door.

"Hi, Tohru?!"

"Momiji!" The gleeful boy was dressed in a white shirt with a blue sailor collar plus matching shorts and a hat. He ran to Tohru and hopped into her arms in an embrace. POOF! Instantaneously, Tohru was holding an adorable dewy eyed bunny.

"Tohru, I'm here to help you get ready for the picnic. You shouldn't have to work all by yourself. Oh! We are going to have so much fun!"

"Yes, we will." Tohru closed her eyes and made one of her characteristic Tohru grins. Momiji always lightened up the atmosphere.

Apparently, he was also an energizer bunny when it came to packing and making food for picnics. He scurried back and forth from cabinet to stove top, to oven then back to cabinet, then to the counters in break-neck haste. One could blink and believe he had circled the surface of the earth while one's eyes were closed. They were done making sandwiches and wrapping snacks before Tohru had a chance to realize that they have made a few extra.

However, this miscalculation was for the best because afterward, when Tohru, Momiji, Yuki and Shagure were walking to the park they were joined by Kisa, Hiro and Hatsuharu. Haru had been babysitting the two middle schoolers.

The air smelled fresh and the deep blue sky was glazed with soft vanilla cream colored clouds when they finally made it to the park. It seemed almost surreal to the group with its acres of light green grass and its blossoming cherry trees that blanketed the scenery with pink ornaments. Surrounding three sides of the well-kept grass was a deep evergreen forest. To the west was a glimmering brook, large enough to swim in and in the middle of a vast, purple wild flower bejeweled field was a large playground that would make even an uneasily entertained child put their Gameboy down to go play. Surprisingly, despite the panache of the scenery, there was only a few people were there when the group arrived.

Momiji made his way in front of the group in an ecstatic march and led them to largest tree on the east side of the park.

"How does this place work?" Momiji leaned against the blossoming tree.

"Oh it it's beautiful! I love it!" Tohru scooped up a pile of freshly fallen petals as some fell upon her neat ballerina bun from the tree. She danced around in Kyou's black shirt with the back of it tied around her small waist to highlight her flowing miniskirt. She had decided to where ballet flats to go along with the look since she didn't have her point shoes anymore. She had fun dressing up.

"It is beautiful." Yuki smiled at Tohru.

"Oh, Tohru, my sweet little flower, this is a wonderful place, what did we ever do to deserve you!" Shigure declared dramatically as he always did.

"Shigure, YOU.." Yuki's violet eyes looked as if they could shoot lasers-beams at the dog. He held back the fire of his indignation and answered mockingly,"Well, you certainly have done nothing to deserve her"

" Yes,yes, I'm just a lonely novelist. It seems no one bothers to see the impact of all the genteel artists out there" Shagure played the innocent card. Yuki gave up to go help Tohru lay out her yellow floral table cloth, which she was tripping on too much for him to be at ease .

They all settled down by the tree save the two middle schoolers, who had raced to the playground, and Momiji, who kept running back and forth from the outskirts of the forest to Tohru to put flowers in her hair. He always appeared tireless. A princess should always receive lots of flowers, especially his, Momiji thought.

After about an hour they were having a generous meal of rice balls, pastrami sandwiches and chilled watermelon when Momiji spoke up em-between his gaping mouthfuls.

"Look, here comes Kyou."

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once again...to be continued


	3. Chapter 3

An hour before, Kyou had been doing his martial arts training alone in a separate shed near Kazuma's Dojo. If Touru had seen the redhead, she would have said that he looked like "an athlete training for the Olympics"; however, a less tactful person, or the frightened children who, from time to time, peeked in on him, would describe him as a "maniac who was breaking blocks with his bare hands". Sweat had cascaded down his bare chest in beads as he split dozens of wooden boards in two from off the top of cement blocks. His breath came faster and shallower as he ran to and fro to get a new block of wood .This was repeated over and over on the grounds that he didn't feel so much as a sting when he hit the victimized remnants of forlorn trees; his body was entirely detached from the pain. Yet, his mind was in agony and he couldn't quite pinpoint why. All he could think of was that he had to beat that damn rat to whom all blame for his misery was due. He had to show that he was _**better**_ as he broke one board,then two, then three, ten, thirteen, fourteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty, twenty one…again and again and again..

_**Better. **_Splinters fell to the ground like wooden chimes to his ears. His eyes were a spark of fire but his heart was still ashes. Lately, he had been feeling his life was going to hurtle out of control but right now,at least, he still had his self-control.

_**Better. **_Another crash, Cherry wood caved in and dropped to the floor. He coughed when the dust was suddenly stirred from a breeze outside. The room he was in was a separate cubicle from the training facility meant for sawing boards and weapons out. It was filled with the aroma of fresh cut pine.

_**Better. **_Cedar split in two with a crashing sound as it toppled over to meet its doom upon the other defeated boards.

_**Better. **_Again, Kyou slammed his fist and each board yielded and fell apart.

_**Better**_. He felt the lust of control and power. There was nothing that couldn't be broken, no great force that couldn't be subdued.

**_Better. _**Once more he picked up a block and set it in place. A ray of light coming from the skylight reflected offf its dark chocolate and creme bars of pigment.

_**Better. **_He raised his hand and hit with all his strength but, the board stayed put. Shaken from his ruitine, Kyou paused and stared at the board with an undying intensity._** Looks like prison bars with the light coming through.**_

_**Better**_. He swung again. No luck.

_**Better. **_And again. The only thing he broke was his concentration.

_**Better. **_His hand nearly missed the board as sharp splinters cut gashes inches long into his hands.

_**Better. **_He hit again in disbelief at how hard it was for him to break such a seemingly ordinary looking piece of wood.

**_Better. _**Kyou hit once more but nothing happened. He dropped down to his knees.**_BREAK! JUST BREAK DAMN IT. BREAK! Why won't it break!?? He_** looked down at his bleeding hand that was sending streams of red down his forearm. The detached sensory feeling he had felt earlier was gone but his thoughts were just as terrible as before. His arm burned like a burning he had felt before. He rubbed his other hand across a cement block. Cold, like a chill he had felt the ash-like saw dust all around him, tears finally welled up in his eyes. He looked at the board again and thought **_M_****_aybe bars aren't meant to be broken._**

He couldn't give up so soon. No, he had to keep trying. He stood up in excitement, determined and uplifted by the invisable force of willpower. The bars were going to break. He wasn't going to leave. He was going to be free.

_**Better. **_He hit the board. _**No, break, damn it.**_

_**Better. **_He hit it again. It didn't bend**_._** He didn't pause to hit it again several more times. A miserable look was now etched on his face.

_**Better. **_The bars didn't yield an inch.

_**Better. **_Tears of frustration trickled down Kyou's face.

_**Better. **_Blood flowed down his arm in flames of red.

_**Better**_. Suddenly, the image of Tohru crying over a staged grave for yet another person flashed through his mind for the twentieth time that day.

_**Better. **_He hit the board as hard as he could._** Why do I even exist if all I can cause people is pain? She's going to cry because of me. I'm going to cause pain to the one person I know who has never hurt anyone. I have nothing to give her, only to take away.I know this for a fact. But, though me being there with her has to be detrimental to her happiness, my absence will be worse. She'll lose another person because I exist. I can't let that happen, again.**_

_**Better**_. The prison bars didn't break._** Everything is my fault.**_

_**Better. **_The haggard voice of an old woman sprung out from a childhood memory in the dark,_** "It's your fault!"**_

**_Better._** Then another voice of someone else rang clear**_, "I won't forgive you."_**

_**Better. BREAK DAMN IT. **_Kyou fell to the ground on top of the unharmed bars in exhaustion.

"Kyou?"

Kazuma had just got done teaching and was standing in the doorway shocked at the sight of Kyou lying on the ground with blood all over him . He hastily ran up and grabbed Kyou's shoulders and propped the boy to stand weakly on his knees.

"Are you all right?What happened to your hand? " He looked Kyou over with worried eyes. He was quivering and staring down at the floor avoiding the eyes of Kazuma. Kazuma then embraced his adopted son in his arms.

"What's wrong Kyou?" He knew by a learned fatherly instinct that the injury wasn't the problem. Kyou had broken bones back when he was just four feet tall without so much as a whimper. He was the type that either shrugged things off or went ballistic and broke something.

He heard sobs coming from behind him. It had been years since he had heard the teen cry.

"Master, I don't know what to do. I don't want to leave." He could barely get the words out. The pain in the boy's ruby eyes made Kazuma's heart ache.

"Leave?"

"I'm going to be locked up. I know I am. You always have said you'd prevent it but its inevitable. I feel like I'm powerless to prevent it"

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"Its not like I don't deserve it." He watched as more tears slid down his son's face. His rough exterior was broken now revealilng a scared boy.

"Your wrong Kyou. Don't' think like that"

"Sensai, I want to be free. I want to live. I don't want to die there. Right now, I feel like time is slipping away." The red head was getting more and more frantic as the tears kept falling. He hadn't seen him like this since when he had taken him up to the mountains.

"Kyou calm down" Kazuma was shocked, he didn't know what to say.

"I want to live." Kyou cryed out as if to tell the world, the people that would lock him up forever.

"Kyou"

"I want to live."

"Living in fear will not help, Kyou, sometimes you need to live in the present. Fearing the future is not living in the present . If you carry all your worries of what is to come with you, you'll be imprisoned far before real bars shut on you. Living isn't just about being free in body. Its your soul as well."

"Sensai, I want to live"

"Then live." His mentor got up and started to leave when he suddenly stopped and looked back at Kyou.

"Kyou, I'm going to go get some bandages. Then, I think you should go home and get some rest, alright ?"

"Yes, sensai."

An hour later, Kyou walked up sheepishly as Tohru ran to him in the park.

"Kyou, You came!"

"Yeah. I'd thought I'd take a break for the day," he casually shrugged his shoulders and smiled at the excited girl. He was already feeling his mood lighten.

"Oh, goodness, Kyou, what happened to your hand?! Are you alright?!"

"I had a little accident training at the Dojo. It's nothing really."

"I'm so sorry you got hurt. If I hadn't spent so much time eating with you, you could have taken a nap and would not have been harmed" She looked as if she was going to cry. He knew he had to think of something quick.

"Touru, its not your fault at all. I'm not tired,really," he knew his words would have no effect then he remembered, "So have you performed yet? I see your wearing my favorite shirt."

"Oh, no, I haven't," her face reddened, "To tell you the truth I was hoping Shigure would forget. He hasn't said anything about it."

"Oh, I see. Stage fright." It was a relief to him to be able to distract her onslaught of tears.

"No, I'm just not that good."Tohru looked down from his gaze at the dainty yellow flowers below her feet, bashful.

"Well, you could practice, and I could tell you If you were good or not, I guess,"Kyou doubted she would go for that idea.

"Really?!! You'd do that for me?"Tohru jumped with grateful glee clasping her hands together below her chin. She looked across the field to the forest beyond.

"Uh..yeah…sure" He was a little taken back. Sometimes she was hard to understand. How the hell, could she so happy over such a simple thing? He guessed that was just her way.

"Lets go over there, Kyou!" She grabbed his hand and they ran, actually Tohru ran, Kyou was dragged. They stopped in a large open meadow hidden on all sides by a thick outcropping of woods. From where they stood the foliage almost seemed transparent, constructed of amber and emeralds. A mellow golden haze was in the air and the gushing of the creak nearby was now louder. Tohru's face beamed as she gazed at the beautiful scenery. She smiled at Kyou dazed from all the imagery. Then she finally realized to let go of his hand.

"Kyou?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you came. You're a lot of fun to be around "He looked into her eyes, they didn't have even a glint of dishonesty. It was amazing to him. **_How could she say that? Its like I have her fooled. _** A sudden tinge of guilt lept from the back of his mind.**_ She's so nice that she's stupid. She can't even see who I am._**

"Your pretty cool yourself" Kyou looked down at her and watched her eyes sparkle as the word "cool" came out, "So are you going to practice or what?"

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yet again....to be continued...


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